257
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1861
troops in the Department of Texas, and to demand the surrender of all government arms and ammunition, as well as the removal of all federal troops from Texas. The commission accomplished its task without blood- shed. Devine then joined the Confederate Army, but was soon appointed by the Confederate States Government judge for the Western District of Texas, a position he held throughout the war. In 1863, in company with Colonel Thomas McKinney, he went to Mexico at the request of General Kirby Smith, to negotiate a peace or compromise on the part of the Con- federate Government, because of a threatened trouble with the Mexican government. In 1864, he went to Arkansas to General Smith's headquar- ters and peacefully settled troubles arising between the Confederate States Government and the Government of Texas, respecting conscription and trade with Mexico. Throughout the war, Devine mani1'ested remarkable shrewdness and ability as a diplomat. After the war he went with other disaffected Southern men to Mexico, but returned to Texas after only a four months' stay. Upon his return to San Antonio he was arrested by Federal authorities, and was imprisoned at Jackson, Louisiana, for four months, on account of his known promi- nence and influence as a Confederate official. When he was finally allowed bond, he was compelled to swear, and give bond, to remain in San Antonio. In 1873, Governor Coke appointed him a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, but after a service of only a few months, he resigned, prefer- ring private practice to the bench. He continued to take great interest in and exert great influence over the political life of the State until his death, March 17, 1890, at his home in San Antonio. See Lynch, The Bench and Bm· of Texas, 302-305; Davenport, The History of the S11p1·eme Co1'rt of Texas, 111; Siduey S. Johnson, Texans Who Wo1·e the Gray, 105; Bentley and Pilgrim, The Legal Directory of T6xas, 1876-1877, 28; The Biographi- cal Encyclopedia of Texas (1880), 108-109; John Henry Brown, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, 220-221; The Encyclopedia of the New West (1881), 597-598; Davis and Grobe, The New Encyclopedia of Texas, 1513; The Dallas News, March 17, 1890; The San .4ntonio Exp,-ess, March 17, 18, 1890. APPROVAL OF THE JOINT RESOLUTIONS CONCERNING THE CONVEN- TION OF THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS, FEBRUARY 4, 1861 1 Whereas, The People of Texas, being much concerned for the preservation of the rights, liberties, and powers of the State and its inhabitants, endangered by the political Action of a majority of the States, and the people of the Same, have in the exercise of powers reserved to themselves, in the Bill of Rights, called a Convention, composed of two members for each Representative in the Legislature, from the various districts established by the apportionment law of 1860, to assemble on the 28th day of Jan- uary, 1861, at the City of Austin; which Convention, by the Terms of the call, made by numerous Assemblages of Citizens in various parts of the State, was, when elected and assembled,
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